About Out at The Movies

OUT at the Movies, Winston-Salem and North Carolina’s LGBT Film Series, was founded in August 2004 by Rex Welton and Lee Mecum. Latter Days was our first film, and we screened it to a large and enthusiastic audience at the ACE Theatre Complex on the campus of what was then known as North Carolina School of the Arts. Matt Jones, Associate Curator of UNCSA’s Moving Image Archives, has been a tremendous help from day one.

After our inaugural screening, we decided to screen a film on the second Saturday of every other month. Some of our more popular films have been Ask Not, Bad Education, But I’m a Cheerleader, e-Cupid, East Side Story, Hannah Free, In Broad Daylight, Loggerheads, Pedro, Ready? OK! and The Trip. Our most attended screening by far has been For the Bible Tells Me So. Due to unprecedented demand, we added three screenings and sold almost 1,000 tickets!

Proceeds from our first screening supported UNCSA’s School of Filmmaking. Revenue from subsequent screenings have benefited the School of Filmmaking and the Adam Foundation. Going forward we look forward to supporting other important organizations in our community.

Post-film Q & A’s have been a lot of fun and very interesting. Three of the FTBTMS families (Brenda and David Poteat, Phil and Randi Reitan and Mary Lou Wallner) traveled to Winston-Salem, and it was the first time that they had all been in the same city at the same time. Alex Nicholson and Jarrod Chlapowksi of Ask Not joined us for two screenings and fascinating post-film Q & A’s. Dr. Jamie Koufman, subject of In Broad Daylight, provided another memorable evening.

We have been thrilled to present the North Carolina and/or Southeastern United States premieres of Ask Not, e-Cupid, Gun Hill Road, Hannah Free, Training Rules and 8: The Mormon Proposition. It is believed that we had more audience members attend our screenings of For the Bible Tells Me So than any other non-profit film series in the country.

In February 2010, OUT at the Movies collaborated with a/perture cinema in downtown Winston-Salem and screened A Single Man. It was our first screening away from the UNCSA campus and was a big success. Since then, we have had occasional screenings at a/perture and screen films the second Saturday of every month at UNCSA. In the fall of 2016 OUT at the Movies achieved our 501c3 status. Your donation or sponsorship may be tax-deductible. Please check with your financial advisor.